I enjoyed myself so much last week when I talked about my Lone Ranger action figure that I figured I'd do it again, and since I am currently in training to be a Pokemon Master once more, I'm talking about 2" PVC figurines from the Red and Blue generation of Pokemon made by Tomy Toys. I own more than I'm going to bother counting, but rest assured it's a hefty number. And guess what? You get to hear all about it (assuming you want to of course). Curious to see into the world of Hardcore Merchandising? Then hit the jump and read on!

To set the brief stage, I am a silly little 5th-grader keen on this new "Pokemon" thing my cousin has just told me about. I'm cruising through Blue Version and my spirits couldn't be higher. I'm out and about with my grandma on a mini-vacation and we run into a toy store. And what do I find but none other than a Rattata/Raciate set from Tomy. Instantly I wanted it, even though Rattata sucks and is typically dumped in the PC storage before it can evolve at level 20, but I wasn't sure exactly why. This would happen again and again and again with various other sets I'd come across.

The simple explanation is that I was hit with Poke-fever. The long explanation is that while I was ready to buy exactly 151 action figures, Nintendo and Game Freaks were not ready for me to buy them yet. As a result, the 2" collectible figures were created through Tomy and kids bought them like they were Pokemon cards. Except in PVC form.

What outrages me now upon looking back is what was really happening with the two and three packs: We were getting figures that were supposed to be cheaper, instead sold at a premium price because some cheap add-ons were included in the bundles. My older sell if naturally sickened by this underhanded tactic. My childhood sell is still pretending the little figures can move and evolve mid-battles.

Anyway, that's the story in a nutshell, but not nearly the in-depth detail you may be interested in hearing regarding the products. For that, I have this video here just for your convenience. In the meantime, leave a comment and let me know if any of you had a collection like this, or if you're still collecting the figurines as the individual Pokemon are still getting released (I stopped when 100 new sets were included, a severe self-esteem blow when I wasn't done collecting the first 151 figures). Perhaps it will rekindle my collection-high, but let's hope not.

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